You can claim a tax credit for the donations you or your spouse or common-lawpartner made during the year on theSchedule 9: Donations and Giftsform.If you’re filing aQuébectax return, you’ll also need to completeSchedule V: Tax Credits for Donations and Gifts.
Note: TheSchedule 9andSchedule Vformsare combined in H&RBlock's tax software.
You can claim a tax credit for your donations (money, cultural and ecologicalgifts, or capital property) if you:
- Donated to a qualified organization.
- Received an official donation receipt for the donated amount.
You can claim 15% on the first $200 of your contributions and then 29% on therest (up to 75% of your net income).
Note: If you made donations after 2015, and your taxable incomefor the year was over $200,000, you can claim 33% on amounts donated that areover the first $200. Refer to theCanada Revenue Agency (CRA) websitefor more information.
Tax tips:
- If you and your spouse have donations for the year, you cancombine the donation amounts and claim them all on one partner’sreturn to get a higher tax credit. Generally, it is more beneficial for thehigher income spouse to claim all donations.
- You can even save all your donation receipts (up to 5 years) and claim themin a future year, provided you haven’t already claimed them, to receive ahigher tax credit.
Provincial tax credit
If you’re eligible to claim the federal donations amount, you’re also entitledto claim a correspondingprovincialtax credit, the valueof which might vary in amount depending on which province or territory youlive in:
What are qualified organizations?
Qualified organizations can be any of the following organizations that canissue official donation receiptsandappear on thepublicly available listthatthe Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) maintains. The only exceptions are the UnitedNations and its agencies and the Government of Canada or a province or territory.
- Registered charities
- Registered Canadian amateur athletic associations
- Registered national arts service organizations
- Registered low-cost housing corporations for the aged
- Registered foreign universities (as of February 27, 2018 registered universitiesoutside of Canada no longer need to be prescribed in Schedule VIII ofthe Income tax regulations)
- Registered municipalities or public bodies in Canada or those performinga function of government in Canada
- Registered foreign charitable organizations
- Recognized political education organizations
- The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie or one of its subsidiarybodies
- Registered museums or cultural or communications organization
Your official donation receipt
It’s important to remember that qualified organizations arenotrequiredby the CRA to issue receipts. In fact, many of these organizations have specificcriteria for giving donation receipts. For example, some organizations requirethe donation amount to be at least $20 for a receipt to be issued. It’s bestto check with the organization beforehand on what its criteria are for issuinga donation receipt.
Note: If you donated through your employer or a companyprogram, you likely won’t receive a donation receipt. However, your donationamounts will be shown on the relevant information slip (such as aT4,T4A,T3,orT5013).
Did you know?If you have lightly used furniture or householdgoods that you no longer need, you can donate these to your local furniturebank or a charitable organization like The Salvation Army. Not only willyou be helping someone in need and prevent the item from going into a landfill,depending on the type of item, you’ll also receive a tax receipt for theitem’s fair market value.
Where do I claim this?
To complete yourSchedule 9 and Schedule V inH&R Block’s 2023 tax software, follow these steps:
-
On theleft navigation menu, click the Credits & deductions tab and then, the Commonly Claimed heading.
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- Under theCREDITSheading, select the checkbox labelledDonations and gifts(or Tax credits for donations and gifts, if you’re filinga Québecreturn), then clickContinue.
- When you arrive at the page forDonations and gifts,enter your information into the tax software.
I need help completing this page
Check each section below for help completing certain fields on theSchedule 9/Schedule V. Remember, Canadianresidents who live outside of Québec will not see fields from theSchedule Vform.Information that’s specific to Québec residents is marked with(QC).
Important: Take special care to make sure you’re enteringyour donation amounts in the correct section of this page. Entering yourdonation amount in the wrong field could change the amount of credit you’reentitled to.
Donations and gifts
Donationson a slip– If you donated through youremployer or a company program, you might have donation amounts on yourT4,T4A,T3,orT5013slip. Don’t enter these amounts on theSchedule 9 and/orSchedule VinH&RBlock's tax software. Instead, report these amounts when enteringthe appropriate slip on theSmart Searchpage of theGovernment slipstab.The software will automatically claim the donations you entered on yourinformation slips to maximize your return.
Note: To keep things simple, you can includeall donationsmade to the same organizationasone amount.
Generally, your donations to a charitable organization can include thefollowing:
- Moneysuch as donations by cash, cheque, creditcard, money order, wire payment, or electronic funds transfer
- Merchandise*
- (QC)Food productssuchas eggs, dairy products, meat, fish, honey, fruits, vegetables, grains,and nuts, donated after March 26, 2018, that you produced as a registeredagricultural operation
- (QC)Awork of artdonatedto a Québec museum
- (QC)A permanentpublic work of artthat’sinstalled in a public space or
- (QC)Abuilding for cultural purposes,one that can house artist studios or one or more cultural organizationsin Québec
*For the purposes of the charitable donation tax credit, merchandiserefers to items of value that can’t be classified as a donation ingifts or property as described below.
Note:
- Enter the above donations in the section titledDonations you made to organizations in 2023.
- If you donated apublic work of artor donateda work of art to a Québec museumandyou received aTPF-712.0.1-V:Certificate of Disposition of Cultural Propertyissuedby the Conseil du patrimoine culturel du Québec, enter this donationin theDonations you made in gifts or property in 2023 section.
If you madeany of the followingdonations in gifts or property,thencomplete theDonations you made in gifts of property in 2023 section:
- Acultural giftsuchas paintings, sculptures, books, and decorative art material that’sof national importance
Note:For donations made after March 18, 2019, the cultural property no longer needs to be of national importance to qualify for the enhanced tax incentives.
- Anecological giftsuchas acovenant or an easem*nt or, in the case of land in Québec, areal servitude that has ecological value
Capital property,which when sold results in a capital gain or capital loss and includes:
- Cottages
- Securities such as stocks, bonds, and units of mutual fundtrust
- Land, buildings, and equipment
- Depreciable property(capitalproperty such as land, buildings, and equipment) that is used toearn income from a business or rental property. Depreciable propertywears out over time as it’s used and the cost of the property isclaimed over several years (known as capital cost allowance) or
- (QC)Amusical instrumentthatyou donated to a public or private educational institution in Québecor an institution providing instruction in music
Note: If donating any of the capital property describedabove resulted in a capital gain (or loss), you’ll also need to completetheT1170: Capital Gains on Gifts of Certain Capital Propertyform.
Donations you made in gifts or property in2023
- If you received a capital gain from donating the property, what was the amount?
You have a capital gain when you sell (or areconsidered to have sold)capital property formore than the cost of theproperty plus any expenses you paid to buy it (adjusted cost base)and sell it (outlays and expenses).Youcan calculate your capital gain by using the following formula:
Sale price of the property – (adjusted cost base + outlays and expenses)
If the result is positive, then you have a capitalgain.
- What's the amount of the capital gains deduction you're claiming for this property in 2023?
You might be eligible to claima capital gains deduction on the donation of your capital property.To calculate your capital gains deduction, complete theT657: Calculation of capital gains deductionpage in H&RBlock's tax software. You can find this on the Pension contributions & expense pageby clicking the Investments heading below the Credits & deductions tab.
- If you have recaptured depreciation to include for this property, enter your amount
A recapture is when the amount you sold the depreciable propertyfor ismorethan theundepreciated capital cost(UCC).This recapture amount must be included on your return as incomein the year you sold the property.Click this linktolearn more about calculating the recapture amount.
Your unused donations
Do you have unclaimed donation amounts from previous years?
Your unused donations are donation amounts that you haven’t claimed beforeon your tax return. You can find these amounts on your official donationreceipts and your returns from the previous five years.
Note: If you’re a Québec resident, your unused federaldonation amounts might be different from your unused Québec donationamounts, as you might have claimed different amounts on your federalreturn and on your Québec return to reduce your tax payable.
If, in any of the previous five years, you claimed only a portion ofyour donation amounts, you can determine the amount of your unused donationsby using the following formula:
Total donations made in the last five years (minus) Donation amounts claimed = Unused donations
Tax tip: Remember to use your oldest unused donationfirst and keep a record of which donation you’ve claimed when.
Keep in mind, you can either claim the full amount of your unused donationamounts or a portion of it to lower your tax payable for the currentyear.
Additional information about your donations
- If you're a farmer, did you donate agricultural products (vegetables, eggs, meat, etc.) to a community food program?
If you’re a farmer in Ontario,British Columbia, or Nova Scotiaanddonated agricultural products to a community food program (aregistered charity that distributes food to the public withoutcharge), you might be able to receive theTax Credit for Farmers Who Donate Food.Thisis a 25% tax credit on the fair market value of the donationsyou made during the year.
Agricultural products that qualify for this tax credit include:
- Fruits, vegetables, mushrooms
- Meat, fish, eggs, or dairy products
- Grains, pulses, herbs
- Honey, maple syrup
- Nuts, or anything else that is grown, raised, or harvestedon a farm
Note: Processed products, including pickles,preserves, and sausages arenoteligible.
- (QC)Did you donate$5,000 or more in moneyto a museum, cultural organization, or arts-related charity this year or last year?
A donation of $5,000 or more in money (donation by cash, cheque,credit card, money order, wire transfer, or electronic fundstransfer) to any of the following organizations is known as alarge cultural donation.
- a registered art-related charity in Québec
- a registered cultural or communications organization
- a registered museum, the Musée national des beaux-arts duQuébec, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Muséede la civilisation or a museum located in Québec and establishedunder theMuseums Act
If you made such a donation, you can claim theadditional tax credit for a large cultural donation.Keep in mind that this tax credit can only be claimedonce.
- (QC)Do you have an unused amount for a large cultural donation that you included in your 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Québec return?
Although you can claim your large cultural donation only once,if you didn’t claim the full amount on your tax returns for 2019,2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023, you can claim the unused portion this year.
Tax tip: The unused portion of a large culturaldonation can be used in any of the four years following the yearof the donation.
- (QC)Did you donate$250,000 or more in moneyto a museum, cultural organization, or arts-related charity?(ifyou included this donation above, you can't claim it again)
You can claim atax credit for cultural patronageifyou donated at least $250,000 in money (donation by cash, cheque,credit card, money order, wire transfer, or electronic fundstransfer) to one of the following organizations:
- registered art-related charity in Québec
- a registered cultural or communications organization
- a registered museum, the Musée national des beaux-arts duQuébec, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Muséede la civilisation or a museum located in Québec and establishedunder theMuseums Act
Tax tip: You can carry forward the unused portionof the donation amount (amount not claimed before) for five yearsfollowing the year of the donation.
- (QC)Do you have apromise of donationregistered with the Minister of Culture and Communications? If so, enter the registration number located on your promise of donation
A promise of donation is one where you agree to donate at least$250,000 to the same organization over a period of up to 10 years(at least $25,000 per year). For you to be able to claim thetax credit for cultural patronage on your promise of donation,it must be registered with the Minister of Culture and Communications.You can find the registration number on the promise of donationreceipt.
- (QC)How much did you donate? (if you made a promise of donation, you have to claim at least $25,000; otherwise, you need to claim at least $250,000)
You can find the amount you donated on the official donationreceipt. Remember, to claim the tax credit for cultural patronageyou must have donated at least $250,000 or, in the case of aregistered promise of donation, at least $25,000.
- (QC)Do you have an unused amount for a cultural patronage donation that you included in your 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023 Québec return?
If you didn’t claim the full amount of your cultural patronagedonation from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023, you can claim the unusedportion on your return this year. You can determine the unusedportion of your donation amount by comparing the donation amounton your official receipt with the amount that you actually claimedon your tax return.
Carrying forward your unused donations
You haveup to five years to claim your donation amounts(or10 years for a gift of an ecologically sensitive land made after February10, 2014).
Remember: You’ll need to claim your carried forward donation amounts from a previous year before you claim the donation amounts for the current year.
If you want to carry forward all or some of your donation amounts from this year, first enter your donation amounts on the Donations and gifts (or Tax credits for donations and gifts, if you’re filing a Québec return) page under the Commonly Claimed tab in H&RBlock's tax software.
Then navigate to the Optimized Credits page in the Final Review section under the Wrap-Up tab, to choose how you want to claim your donations.
If you don’t want to claim your donations and want to carry them forward, select Yes in response to the question Would you prefer not to claim some of the credits in the table above? (answer No if you want to claim all the credits).
Select your response from the drop-down next to the question How do you want to claim your donations and gifts?.
Note: If you’re a Québec resident, you’ll need to also select how you want to claim donations on your Québec return.
Remember to keep a record of your carryforward amounts in case the CRA and Revenu Québec (if applicable) ask to see it later.
